Frugal Shopper: Hot New-Car Deals Won’t Go Out With April
It's the end of the month, and what does that mean? Well, it could mean it's time to close the deal on a new vehicle.
Recently we reported that toward the end of the month, you're more likely to get a good deal on a new vehicle. Weekends aren't always the best time of the month to get a great deal—and not Fridays, typically—but in general the weekends toward the end of the month are a better bet.
This month, which ends on a Friday, is a bit of an exception, as after an especially strong March automakers are feeling the pressure to keep up the pace in April. Experts are seeing the April numbers as an assurance that we've weathered the worst and are back on track for a (likely slow) recovery.
If you're just starting to think about a new vehicle, don't rush out and make a rash decision; it pays to hold off and do your research; thinking about what you need, drive a few vehicles, and then pricing out your vehicle of choice with TrueCar's market-specific tools. But if you've been waiting to pull the trigger on a new-car purchase, today might be a good time to find a last-minute deal as stores get ready to close their books for the month and tally the numbers.
TrueCar predicts that, relative to the 'new' normal, April will be hot, but not quite as hot as March. Overall April 2010 vehicle sales to be at about 1.01 million units, down five percent from March 2010 though up 23 percent from the same time last year.
The pricing-intelligence firm this week ran the end-of-the-month numbers to find the best deals by segment. Standouts included, among pickups, the 2010 Ford Super Duty F-250—a 23.4 percent discount from MSRP, typically, including $5,000 customer cash—and the 2010 Volvo C70 (convertible), which continues to sell well under MSRP (18.3 percent, TrueCar anticipates). Those looking to snap up a luxury crossover might consider the 2010 Lincoln MKX, a model that's biding its time before the redesigned 2011 MKX rolls in, might be able to get more than 15 percent off MSRP, thanks to $4,000 in customer cash.
In case you miss the boat this weekend, there's always May. Among months, May is typically one of the best for getting a good deal, as it's traditionally a make-or-break time for sales, and you can bet dealerships will still be trying hard to earn your business.
[TrueCar]
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
Your New Car May Soon Cost $9 More So NHTSA Can Do Its Job
Remember back to last fall, when the whole Toyota recall mess started to unfold?
And do you recall that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration horrified many observers, us included, by saying it had no software or electrical engineers on staff?
Well, our elected officials took note. Yesterday, in the wake of the Toyota incidents, bills were circulated in the House and Senate that would rewrite auto-safety regulations, give the NHTSA new powers, and greatly expand its enforcement budget.
Among other powers, the Agency could order a carmaker to recall, stop selling, and/or stop building vehicles that it found to pose an "imminent hazard of death or serious injury."
Under the House bill, drafted by Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Bobby Rush (D-IL), NHTSA's enforcement budget would increase to $280 million by 2013.
To fund this, every new car sale would have a fee added: $3 in the bill's first year, $6 the second year, and then $9 the third year, with increases at the rate of inflation thereafter. That $9 would represent 0.05 percent of the cost of a $20,000 new car.
The bill would also mandate event-data recorders ("black boxes") on all new vehicles within two years, as well as brake-override software that cuts power to the engine if both accelerator and brake pedals are being pushed at the same time.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on the bill next Thursday. A draft of a broadly similar Senate bill is being circulated by Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV).
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
Money Pit: Potholes, Poor Roads Cost Motorists $335 Per Year
Think those deep potholes and frost heaves along the commute—and all the rattles and squeaks they elicit from your car—are costing you big in extra repairs and vehicle wear?
You're right! Awful road conditions cost U.S. motorists $67 billion per year in additional repairs and operating costs—an average of $335 per motorist, nationally.
But in some states it's much worse: If you're in New Jersey, potholes are costing you $596. California isn't far behind, at $590, while Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Oklahoma all have their additional prices of $503, $473, and $457, respectively.
Georgia ranked best, with just $44 in additional annual operating costs because of rough roads, followed by Florida ($126), Alabama ($162), Oregon ($166), and Utah ($176).
This information comes from a new report by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, brings the issue to light and hopes to lead to higher accountability in Washington.
$1 To Maintain, Or $7 To Rebuild
According to the AASHTO, reconstructing a road after 25 years of neglect can cost more than three times the amount needed to preserve the road in good condition over the entire time. And, according to the director of the Michigan Department of Transportation, Kirk Steudle, it costs a dollar to keep a road in good condition for every $7 you'd have to spend to reconstruct it.
And as Congress, state legislators, and local politicians push for new bridges and highways, very little attention is paid to existing ones.
The authors blame a number of factors: failure to set focused transportation policies at the federal level; a lack of accountability for road and bridge maintenance; allowances that permit states to shift federal maintenance money over to other new road and bridge projects; and a "perverse incentives" system that rewards states with more funding for replacement when they neglect the existing infrastructure and divert the maintenance money elsewhere.
At the state level, officials tend to emphasize high-visibility projects rather than maintenance spending, which could save money in the long run, and again because of political interests, roads that might carry the majority of a state's traffic but be within a small area get far less funding altogether relative to the traffic.
Congessional earmarks—funding projects like the "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska—also tilt spending away from maintenance, the report says, and keep the money from projects where funding is most urgently needed.
The report recommends that maintenance and repair need to be emphasized (as with the Fix It First policies in Maryland, New Jersey, and Illinois), that states should be required to plan for future maintenance before building new roads, and that they should be rewarded for properly repairing and maintaining.
Potholes Aplenty In Metro Areas
Roadways in metropolitan areas are in the worst shape, according to the study, with just 37 percent in "good" condition, 40 percent in "fair" shape, and 23 percent in "mediocre" or "poor" condition. In rural areas, 61 percent were "good," 34 percent were "fair," and only five percent were deemed "mediocre" or "poor."
Ciao, Chrysler Sebring; Buon Giorno, Chrysler Nassau?
There's some brand laundering going on in Auburn Hills, as Fiat sweeps away some of the recent ills plaguing the Chrysler brand.
The next proof could be the death of the Chrysler Sebring, the mid-size sedan that's fallen far behind the likes of the Ford Fusion and Hyundai Sonata in sales and market presence.
The Detroit Free Press reports that Chrysler will ditch the Sebring name with the replacement for the sedan, due in the 2012 model year. Coming out of the recent past, the Nassau nameplate's reported as the Sebring replacement.
First displayed at the 2007 Detroit auto show, the Chrysler Nassau concept hinted at the direction Chrysler's styling might have taken before the company filed for bankruptcy last year and emerged in a new corporate alliance with Italy's Fiat group.
A new Nassau sedan could be sourced from Italy, as Fiat's plan is for Chrysler to be an outlet for cars sold in Europe under Fiat's Lancia brand. However, the current Chrysler Sebring also shares running gear with the Dodge Avenger sedan and Chrysler Sebring convertible, which likely will be replaced--and sourced from Chrysler's domestic assembly-plant network. It's not clear, and Chrysler has not yet confirmed, the plans for the Nassau nor for its future production facility.
This year, Chrysler will introduce the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee (stay tuned for a first drive in early June), to be followed by new versions of the Dodge Charger, Chrysler 300 and the Dodge Durango.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
Toyota Recalls Another SUV For Stability Control Issue
Toyota Motor Sales has announced a recall of about 50,000 Sequoia sport-utility vehicles from the 2003 model year for an issue with the electronic stability control system.
An issue with the control unit's program logic could cause the stability control to activate at low speed (about 9 mph, Toyota says) when not needed, after accelerating from a stop, resulting in acceleration that's slower than intended.
Only about 50,000 Sequoias from the early part of the 2003 model year are affected by the recall, and in fall 2003 Toyota had issued the first of several Technical Service Bulletins. Since then, the automaker says it has been responding to owners by replacing the skid control engine control unit (ECU) on a case-by-case basis.
Meanwhile, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened its own investigation on the Sequoia about 18 months ago, according to the New York Times, and the government agency has gathered 153 complaints regarding the issue.
"There have been no reported injuries or accidents as a result of this condition," Toyota says.
This is Toyota's second stability-control-related issue in the past month. Just a couple of weeks ago Consumer Reports noted an unexpected handling behavior in a test Lexus GX 460 that led Toyota to suspend the model's sales and then recall it for a stability control issue.
Electronic stability control (ESC, or VSC in Toyotas) is now widely offered and standard on most new cars and trucks, but in 2003 is was relatively uncommon. However several automakers, including Toyota moved to install the device through most of their sport-utility models well before required by the federal government. The measured phase-in by the federal government, requiring stability control on 100 percent of vehicles by 2012, requires all automakers to have the device on 75 percent of their 2010 models, 95 percent of 2011 models, and 100 percent of 2012 models.
ESC is especially useful in averting accidents, injuries, and deaths due to rollover in taller vehicles that could potentially be tripped by the combination of a loss in control plus a dropoff, a change in surface, or a barrier such as a curb.
For the most recent recall effort, beginning in late May Toyota will mail letters to all owners with 2003 Toyota Sequoia models affected by the issue. Or owners can call 800-331-4331.
The automaker says that if a customer has previously paid to have the ECU replaced, Toyota will consider reimbursement.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
Seatbelts Newly Required For Georgia Pickup Drivers
No, this isn't a headline dredged from Google News Archives. Just today, the Georgia House passed a measure that ends an odd loophole allowing adults in pickup trucks—such as the Indian Mahindra pickup that's soon expected from Georgia-based Global Vehicles—to legally eschew seatbelts.
The loophole had been carried over, year after year, unable to get through the legislature due to resistance from rural interests, and an anti-Big Brother sentiment. That, despite American Automobile Association (AAA) estimates that about 20 deaths and 200 serious injuries could have been averted in the state each year with the requirement.
Belt use in pickups can reduce fatalities by 60 percent, according to NHTSA, and roughly 70 percent—a much higher percentage than for other types of vehicles—of those who died in pickup crashes weren't wearing a seatbelt.
The measure passed Georgia's Senate already and will be signed by Governor Sonny Perdue.
Under the current law, minors in Georgia are already required to wear belts. New Hampshire remains the only state with no requirement for adults to wear seatbelts. Indiana also used to have an adult exception for pickups, but the state eliminated that in 2007.
In the same whirlwind session, Georgia lawmakers passed bills to restrict texting by teens, though it remained unclear whether final versions would affect adults.
[Washington Post; Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
Could Rental Rates Rise With Hertz-Dollar-Thrifty Combination?
Today's news, that Hertz is planning to purchase Dollar Thrifty, might not raise rates right away, but it could make deals for some travelers a bit harder to find in the not-too-distant future.
Rental prices have already been on an upswing, with short-notice deals harder to find than they had been. After the industry was caught flat-footed in 2008, hit doubly by the stay-at-home affects of the recession and the drop in business-related rentals and air travel, fleets were trimmed down, and aging cars were kept in the fleet with tens of thousands of miles on them.
To help compensate, rental-car companies raised prices for leisure travelers. According to Avis Budget, the average price of a rental jumped by around three dollars a day in 2009.
In recent months, the rental-car industry has been in recovery mode, with the companies reducing their losses and stock prices bouncing back.
For now, analysts anticipate that customers won't see any rate changes. That's because the two companies largely cater to different types of travelers. While Hertz caters to the special needs of corporate and business travelers, Dollar Thrifty has focused toward leisure travelers, and the two companies run at different pricing tiers.
But the concern is that the acquisition will leave just three car-rental giants in the U.S.: Enterprise (Alamo/National), Avis (Budget), and Hertz (Dollar/Thrifty).
Even when merged with Hertz, Dollar Thrifty operations would almost certainly continue operation in some form. However, Hertz has said that it plans to cut about $180 in overlapping costs, primarily in fleet, IT systems, and procurement—meaning that in addition to merging operations, the brands could be sharing vehicles.
Based on previous rental mergers, the first locations to see a rise in prices could be small-to-medium-size airport locations, as smaller-volume, redundant locations are consolidated.
Hertz was wholly owned by Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) from 1994 to 2005, while Thrifty was at one time owned by Chrysler. Accordingly, Hertz was long-dependent on Ford vehicles like the Lincoln Town Car, Ford Explorer, and Ford Taurus, and Dollar-Thrifty had a fleet heavy on Chrysler products such as the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Grand Caravan. In recent years, both companies have diversified their fleets to include more small cars, and more import-brand vehicles.
At present, Hertz has about 8,200 locations over 146 countries, and Dollar Thrifty has 1,550 locations.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
2011 Chevrolet Cruze Makes The Global Safety Honor Roll
Small-car safety especially has come a long way. And while, by driving a smaller, lighter vehicle you'll still be at a disadvantage in certain situations, some of today's small cars with top marks—like the upcoming 2011 Chevrolet Cruze—can assure the security of a much larger vehicle.
As we outlined nearly a week ago, in a special Preview Drive of the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, this new compact sedan has a number of safety segment firsts. Its ten airbags—including frontal, head-curtain, thorax side bags front and back, and knee bags—are the most in its segment, and the rear thorax and knee bags are standard-feature firsts for a value-priced compact car.
The new Cruze also has a collapsible pedal system to help reduce the risk of leg or ankle injuries—in a frontal crash, especially. Other noteworthy standard safety features include OnStar with Automatic Crash Response, which automatically notifies OnStar and first responders, including a 911 operator, depending on the chance of severe injury.
Although no U.S. crash tests have yet been conducted, General Motors is expecting top five-star and Good ratings in absolutely every category from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), respectively.
But so far, the Cruze has aced every other major crash-test program in the world.
The Cruze earned a score of 79 points out of 100 in the European New Car Assessment Program (EuroNCAP)—including an exemplary score of 96 percent in adult occupant protection that makes it one of the safest passenger cars, beating all tested premium-brand vehicles and a runner-up for the best test results this year.
In those European tests, the Cruze earned the maximum points allowed for both frontal offset and side-impact crash protection and was the first passenger car to get a perfect score among those tests since the ratings were established in 1997.
The Cruze has also achieved top marks in the KNCAP (Korea), C-NCAP (China), and ANCAP (Australia).
These market-specific models of the Cruze vary slightly, but not significantly, in structure, according to GM safety engineer Ken Bonello, and the Cruze is essentially a global compact car. And according to Bonello, the Cruze was able to ace these slightly different tests through extensive computer modeling from the start, attention to multiple load paths, and the use of more crash sensors than required.
We're eagerly awaiting both a first drive of the 2011 Chevy Cruze in final production form, as well as confirmation of this model's crash-test excellence for the U.S. In the meantime, be amazed by these EuroNCAP highlights.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
2010 Lexus GX 460: Toyota Offers A Fix, And A Confession
A software update, available by the end of the month, will solve issues with the electronic stability control system on the 2010 Lexus GX 460 sport-utility vehicle, says Toyota Motor Sales.
Last week, Toyota had promptly halted sales of the GX 460 after Consumer Reports noted an unexpected handling behavior, and possibly a malfunction of the electronic stability control system.
The test behavior, in which the stability system allowed the back of the vehicle to slide out sideways when the driver lifted abruptly off the accelerator while going tightly around a corner (lift-off oversteer), could potentially result in a higher chance of rollover if the vehicle were tripped by a curb, dropoff, or change in surface.
Consumer Reports subsequently gave the 2010 Lexus GX 460 a rare "Don't Buy: Safety Risk" designation.
Toyota later confirmed that its own engineers had duplicated the behavior
Curiously, there's more to the story. Now Toyota Motor Corporation has also released a confession of sorts, explaining that several different conditions contributed to the issue:
- In the GX 460 and Land Cruiser Prado, heavy components, such as the fuel tank, are located on the left side, and in left-hand drive versions, the left side is made even heavier because of the presence of the driver.
- For vehicles with certain tires (on 18-inch wheels) and equipped with the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (KDSS*) and VSC, the activation of the VSC may not be sufficient in certain circumstances due to the setting of the VSC program.
- Circumstances may require advanced driving skills, such as sharp turns of the steering wheel in high-speed conditions or negotiating a curve to the right at excessive speeds.
It's an unusual (albeit indirect) admission—suggesting that Toyota didn't retest the vehicle's stability system for several key (U.S.-market) differences (like weight distribution, tires, or suspension) versus the closely related Toyota 4Runner and Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. But as for the third point—that advanced driving skills might be required for sharp turns—isn't stability control expected to help with those sorts of emergency maneuvers?
The recall now affects about 13,000 Lexus GX 460 models globally, including 9,400 in the U.S., plus about 21,000 units of the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (a model not sold in the U.S.) that are left-hand-drive and equipped with both KDSS and VSC, and the fix will take about an hour.
U.S. owners will be notified in the mail starting in early May, but they can also contact Lexus Customer Satisfaction, at 800-255-3987; until a fix has been provided courtesy vehicles are on offer for those concerned about the issue.
And in the meantime, check out the video below, which helps show the differences between vehicles with the fix and those without.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
Survey Shows Renewed Trust In American Cars, Especially Ford
In recent months and years, U.S. automakers have rallied that American cars are now on equal or better footing than Japanese (and Korean) cars in terms of quality, reliability, and durability.
The campaigns, along with sea-change improvements in some of the products coming from Detroit, as observed by TheCarConnection.com, seem to have worked. With critically acclaimed success stories like the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, Ford (NYSE:F) has gained significantly with U.S. shoppers; the percentage singling out Ford as the automaker producing the best quality cars doubled since 2006, from nine percent to 18 percent.
It's not surprising, given the slew of recalls that have been announced in recent months—including some that have applied to the automaker's iconic 2010 Toyota Prius flagship—Toyota took the hardest hit when poll-takers asked who produces the best quality cars. It fell from 25 down to 15 percent.
The results come from an AP-GfK Poll, taken by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media, and based on 1,002 adults 18 and older—702 by landline and 300 by cellphone—then weighted to the Current Population Survey. It was conducted March 3 and March 8 of this year, but included in the poll results were those from December 2006, when many of the same questions were asked.
Compared to 2006, a slightly higher percentage said that they would consider buying an American car (68 percent now versus 64 percent then). But there's still progress to be made on behalf of the U.S. industry; the perception remains that foreign cars are better quality, better made, and/or longer lasting.
When asked which country produces the best quality cars, 38 percent of respondents thought U.S. vehicles were tops (up from 29 percent in 2006), while Europe was down slightly (from 17 to 15 percent) and Asia was down significantly (from 46 percent in 2006 to 33 percent in March). Japan took the hardest hit, down from 44 percent to 29 percent.
In a test of image, respondents were asked to name their dream car. There, 38 percent responded with a foreign brand, with models from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Lexus placing highest. Domestic models were chosen by 31 percent, with Chevrolet, Ford, Cadillac, and Chrysler ranked at the top (though Corvette was separated out as a separate brand).
Interestingly, vehicle ownership looks to have dropped slightly during this time according to this demographically adjusted poll, with 83 percent owning or leasing one or more vehicles in 2010, versus 89 percent in 2006. A surprising 17 percent said this year that they didn't own or lease a vehicle at all—that's way up from ten percent then.
One stereotype that hasn't changed is that those in the Western U.S.—along with those who have completed more education—are far more likely to hold their high regard for Asian-made vehicles. Older and rural residents remained more positive about American cars.
[Associated Press, via Yahoo]
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
